Scientists Invent Super-Thin Wearable E-Skin Display

Trending News: Is This E-Skin The Smartwatch Of The Future?

Why Is This Important?

Because this is the first step towards becoming a cyborg.

Long Story Short

Researchers at the University of Tokyo say they've invented a super-thin electronic film that can be taped on to skin. E-Skin, as it's being called, could signify a major change in wearables, but it's still far from ready for public consumption.

Long Story

Wearables is supposed to be the future. Watches, glasses, clothes, you name it, tech companies have thought it'll be the next iPhone — but as of yet no one has been able to shake us away from that hunk of amazing technology in our pockets. Could this invention finally get us into wearables?

University of Tokyo researchers have developed an ultrathin, ultraflexible, film that tapes directly on your skin. An image shared in the press release shows how the technology could be used to tell the time, but we know from smartwatches that there's a helluva lot more we could do with a tiny device, namely updates on anything and everything.

Someya Laboratory University Of Tokyo

Besides being on the back of your hand, the researchers demonstrated how the super-thin electronic display could be useful in other ways.

Someya Laboratory University of Tokyo

"What would the world be like if we had displays that could adhere to our bodies and even show our emotions or level of stress or unease?" University of Tokyo Professor Takao Someya, one of the researchers, said in the release. "In addition to not having to carry a device with us at all times, they might enhance the way we interact with those around us or add a whole new dimension to how we communicate."

Would this technology be used like a smartwatch, or turn us into walking billboards? We don't know as the technology is still very far away. We don't even know if putting something like this right on your skin would even be healthy. If it isn't, maybe this technology will turn up in robots, ex-Machina style.

Still, as pointed out by TechInsider where I first saw this story, e-skin "shows just how quickly we're becoming capable of creating technology we once could only imagine."

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